This sounds like pharma industry FUD, mostly.

An informed purchaser of medicines in Mexico can trust both a) medicines manufactured by the same global pharma labs that exist in the US or Europe, and b) medicines that display the indication "G.I." or "genérico intercambiable", which indicates that bioequivalency and bio-availability tests have been done to prove that the pharmaceutical molecules are present in the same concentrations as the leading brand for that medication and display equivalent effects within a patient's body.

I agree that a licensed pharmacist adds value for consumers in terms of looking out for potential drug conflicts or interactions, but again we are assuming that these patients have been advised by doctors aware of their treatment regimens.

A simple rule would be to go to established chain pharmacies. The widely available "Farmacias Similares" do not necessarily sell G.I. medications, so products purchased there are on average less reputable, and could result in situations such as that expressed in the article about the antibiotic at 10% concentration.

Disclaimer: I work for the largest pharmacy chain in Mexico, but I am also well aware of the quality of the medications which we sell, and that the US industry very much wants to undermine US consumers' confidence in products purchased in Mexico, which could honestly save money for them.

I don't agree with Dr. Daniels. This article seems intended more to frighten than inform. You hear the same scare reporting from pharma about drugs from Canada. Many large drug companies like Pfizer and Lilly manufacture drugs in Mexico because of cheaper labor costs...not to make an inferior product. I would much rather see an article educating consumers on how to control their drug costs than this obviously biased commentary.

Is the writer implying that US drugs are safe or even US drugs. My pharmacy tells me that all their drugs are generic and that the ingredients come from China.

That may explain why on askapatient.com so many are experiencing strange and pretty awful reactions to generics and others doing just fine on them.

Who even manufacturers their drugs in the states anymore. Years ago, I learned that most of our drugs were made in India, Isreal, New Zeland. Those were safe and standardized. China is a different story and yet the FDA allows it.

China can produce excellant product from one factory and garbage from another...

This is a scare tactic article written on behalf of the pharma companies raking in huge profits off us Americans. They don't want us buying medications in Mexico or Canada because they sell for less there which means less profit for the companies. You can not honestly expect me to believe that name brand companies like Pfizer make inferior drugs for everyone besides the U.S. They are all the same stuff, just with Spanish or French on the packaging in addition to or instead of English.